Mt Washington Summit Attempt!

Ahoy! We've put together another wintery adventure for your viewing pleasure. Watch us make the long climb up the relentless Lion Head winter route towards Mt Washington's summit cone! We ended up climbing about halfway up, conquering the steepest and most technical section of the climb and pushed above tree line to just below the top of Lion Head at which point we made the difficult decision to turn around and make our way back down. Due to unforeseen circumstances with poorly fitting rental boots it became impossible to continue as Morgan quickly developed crippling pain in her feet. Continuing on would have jeopardized our safety in the -35° wind chill conditions especially since the rest of the climb would be entirely exposed. We could not maintain a quick enough pace to keep up with our timeline for summiting. Once the decision was made to turn back we rested for a few minutes to take in the views and mentally prep for the steep descent. Summiting a mountain like Washington is never a 100% guarantee. To put it in perspective, out of 8 summit attempts this season our guide had only summited once. We came across at least one other group on our way down that day who also had to turn back. Whether it be gear malfunctions, a change in the weather conditions, or injuries there are a multitude of situations that are simply out of your control. The most important thing in keeping yourself alive in the mountains is realizing when you need flip that switch in your mind and turn off your immense willpower and determination to summit and turn back. It's incredibly tough to do when you still feel strong enough to summit, but making that decision warrants the most respect of all and I certainly respect Morgan's ability to push through the unbearable pain she was experiencing for as long as she did and make it back down safely. Summiting is only a small part of the adventure. We still had an incredible time and got some breathtaking views. It was still worthwhile. We gained some good experience and developed our skills with our mountaineering tools. We came out of this with more than we had when we arrived at the trailhead which is all you can ask for. We will be back... with better boots. ? Photo Cred: Morgan GoPro Footage: Mike/Brendon Music: By the Harbor - Mhern https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/Ax4zvh3DQL/ Some Thing - Rambutan https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/kSXUYCAZKB/ Amber Lights - Chill Cole https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/uOlkWc1BO4/ Biltmore Hills - Sarah, the Illstrumentalist https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/ofXUsFNAaK/ Colours - Torii Wolf https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/gge6dwTWug/ Cupcake Delivery - Dylan Sitts https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/W7PCdYXRPz/